Adult nappies are forecast to outsell baby nappies in Japan by 2020, in the
latest confirmation of the nation's rapidly ageing society.

A string of Japanese companies are expanding their production facilities in order to make more adult nappies to cater for the nation's fast growing elderly demographic.

Nippon Paper Industries is increasing adult nappy production at its Kyoto factory, while Daio Paper Corp is also currently installing adult nappy making equipment at two of its plants at a cost of £23.3 million, according to the Nikkei newspaper.

The installation of new production facilities, which are due to launch next month, will reportedly aim to boost Daio's production levels by 80 per cent to 81 million adult nappies a year.

Another company investing heavily in the emerging sector is Oji Holdings, with reports that it is planning to build a new factory in Fukushima for the exclusive purpose of producing adult nappies, aiming to produce 25 million nappies a year.

Kao Corp also recently announced plans to build a new £33.3 million disposable nappy plant in Yamagata prefecture with the potential long-term intention of tapping into the forecast growing demand for adult nappies.

"The new production base for sanitary products takes into consideration higher demand for products related to the ageing society such as increasing cases of light urinary incontinence," Kao said.

Japan is emerging as one of the fastest ageing societies in the industrialised world, with almost one in four of the population currently aged 65 or over, a figure that is rising every year.

Meanwhile, the average woman is having 1.39 children, a figure below potential replacement birth rates, as reflecting in the baby nappy industry, which is valued at £798m but is not currently growing, according to reports.

In contrast, as adult nappies cost more to buy, the adult industry is valued at between up to £931 million, according to the Nikkei, which predicts it will eclipse the baby market by 2020.